A Taste of Death (Maggie Olenski Series) (16 page)

"You're getting tired because you don't have a real smooth action yet. Don't worry, it'll come," Dyna promised.

In how many years, Maggie wondered. She took deep breaths and waited for her heart to slow down, then gamely followed again in Dyna's tracks. She kicked and pushed and glided as best she could, stopping less and less as they moved through the woods, and was just beginning to enjoy the effort when she realized she could see Main Street through the trees.

"It was right around here where I found Ali," Dyna said, pausing. Maggie looked where Dyna's ski pole pointed, but the only thing to see was freshly fallen snow piled around wintry brown, leafless trees.

"So the vet said he's okay
?" Maggie asked, remembering the call Dyna had made to the veterinary clinic while Maggie dressed.

"Yeah, he says I can come get him as soon as the roads are clear for driving. They spoke to Leslie, and she's glad to have me take him." Dyna's eyes had narrowed as she mentioned Leslie, and Maggie knew she was still convinced Leslie had tried to dispose of poor Ali in a most unforgivable way.

Maggie didn't comment, and they pushed on to Main Street. The sidewalks had been cleared, so they stepped out of their skis and carried them over their shoulders as they walked. Maggie was glad the dress shop wasn't too far up Main. Although these skis were lighter than the downhill type, they were still an effort to lug, and she wished they had decided to leave them at the end of the path. Surely the skis wouldn't have disappeared when they went back for them, she thought. But then again, as had been dramatically made clear to her, this town wasn't always as crime-free and innocent as it seemed.

"There it is," Dyna said, pointing to the dress shop up ahead. Maggie joined Dyna in jamming her skis into the mound of snow at the curb, dusted the snow off as best she could, and followed her into the store.

Ski Lady Boutique was larger than it looked from outside, and carried a selection of women's clothing far beyond ski apparel. Dyna apparently knew her way around the store as she led the way purposefully to the rear. A woman who Maggie remembered as having spoken up at the town meeting against rezoning turned toward them
there
, smiling. Middle aged, elegantly coifed, and what she herself would probably describe as a "perfect size 14", she replaced a suit she had been holding onto the rack near her and approached them.

"Hi Mona,” Dyna said.
“Guess what we're here for."

"Since you clearly made considerable effort to get here this snowy morning, I imagine you need something to wear for the dinner tonight."

"Right! I hope you're not all sold out."

"Oh, I think we'll be able to find something you'll like. Let's see, this should be your size here, right?" Mona led Dyna to a row of brightly colored dresses, then took Maggie over to her own sec
tion, one size lower. They fingered their way through the clothes
, occasionally pulling something out and
holding it out to look at
.

In the end, Dyna chose a floaty lavender dress whose color put roses in her cheeks. Maggie had wavered on a black dress, but finally decided to go with a green one that might get use someday for a school function. She let Mona help her choose a necklace that would elevate her outfit to the level of tonight's event. Thank goodness Dyna had discovered some basic dress shoes left behind by both her and her mother, which they could each use tonight. One less purchase to worry about.

As Mona wrapped their purchases in tissue and totaled bills, she chatted about that evening's dinner. "The whole town should be there, the adults, that is. Everyone's dying to see what the Warwick's, I mean Mrs. Warwick, will have arranged."

"I understand Dan Morgan's doing the catering," Maggie said. Her gaze had wandered back to where the black dress hung. It was still sending out a siren song which her innate practicality had managed to muffle but not completely silence.

"Yes, and he does such wonderful things with food. I hear he's even doing a vegetarian table for Regina and her friends."

Dyna's eyes lit up. "Great! Maggie picked up our tickets yesterday from Regina. We only just heard about the event, which is why we didn't have anything to wear."

Mona looked over to Maggie. "What did you think of her place?"

"It's interesting. She told me about it having been built by her grandfather."

"Yes, she's very proud of the house, and of her family. Most of it." Mona's voice had dropped to a tone of confidentiality. "I don't suppose she mentioned her brother, did she?"

"Her brother?" Maggie asked, surprised. "She told me she was the last of the line. I assumed she had no siblings."

"She doesn't, now." Mona had paused in her folding and bagging to look at Maggie and Dyna with serious eyes. "He committed suicide, years ago, as a young man."

"Oh, how awful," Dyna said
.

Maggie waited, sure that Mona planned to tell them more. She was right.

"He had been the family's black sheep, from what I hear, younger than Regina by two or three years. But where she firmly followed in the family's path of straight and narrow - the same as she does now - Trenton was living wild. He was what I guess they called in those days a wastrel. He was driving his parents to distraction, and Regina, I hear, hated it even worse."

Mona paused. "She was the one who found him."

"What had happened," Maggie asked.

"Shot. He shot himself. With his father's own rifle. Regina was out walking in the woods
near the pond
and said she found him there."

"Did he leave a note?"

"No note. But I'm told everyone assumed he felt he had disgraced the family enough."

Maggie pictured Regina's living room, so carefully maintained. Even her father's hunting rifles. Was the one that killed her brother there too, she wondered? Cleaned and oiled? Had Trenton actually been the one who felt that his disgraceful life had to end? Or had Regina?

Maggie shook her head to chase away those gruesome
thoughts
and was glad when more customers came in, ending Mona's chronicle. She and Dyna picked up their purchases, packed now in stu
rdy plastic bags with handle
s they could loop over their arms backpack style, and said their good-byes.

"Gosh, what a story," Dyna said, as they retrieved their skis from the snow pile.

"Yes," Maggie agreed, struggling to hoist the skis onto her shoulder while protecting
the precious cargo on her back and at the same time
hold onto a pair of ski poles.

As they tramped down Main Street and back to the path, Maggie wondered how similar Regina's attitude might have been towards both a disruptive brother and a disruptive businessman. Both problems in her life had been eliminated. Regina was clearly a take-charge woman, but to what extent had she taken charge in these cases?

Maggie wondered, and vowed to look into it, one way or another.

T
he lights of Leslie's house blazed at them
as Maggie turned into her street that night.

"Wow! Looks like a party going on there," Dyna said.

"You might think so. Where do you suppose I should park?"

"Follow that white Blazer. It looks like Leslie's got valet parking set up."

Maggie pulled into a short line of cars. When hers reached the snow-free front walk of the Warwick house she was waved to a stop by a parka-clad teen-aged boy who opened her door, helped her out, and quickly took her place in the driver's seat.

As she stood on the sidewalk with Dyna watching her car speed out of sight, Maggie swallowed the fear that she would never see it again in the same condition, then turned toward the house. "Thank goodness the snow plows cleared Hadley in time for us to get here. Let's hope most everyone else shows up too. We need to try to learn as much as we can, things that will help Elizabeth."

"Yeah, we'll pump everyone for information, while they're scarfing down goodies and off their guard."

"But discreetly," Maggie said, smiling. "Always discreetly."

They approached the front door and Maggie heard music coming from the house, which crescendoed whe
n the door opened. Laughter, along with
the clatter and tinkle of dishes and glassware filled in between beats of the melody. Leslie stood near the door greeting guests, dressed in a very unwidow-like glittery and slinky silver number. Looking at her, Maggie's pleasure in her own new green dress slipped
down
several notches. However, the music, and a glimpse of the festive decorations within managed to keep her mood at party level.

"I'm so glad y'all c
ame," Leslie sang out as Mrs. Hanson quickly relieved them of their coats.

"Your place looks wonderful," Maggie said. And you do too, she thought, but found she couldn't quite bring herself to say so. Maggie tried to justify this by telling herself Leslie must know how great she looked and surely was tired of hearing it, and almost succeeded. I really should try harder, she thought, to be more gracious to my murder suspects.

Glancing at Dyna, Maggie saw she wore a rather
tight smile
and knew she must be thinking of Ali, whose pick-up from the vet's had been postponed to tomorrow because of a small setback in his condition.

Leslie's thoughts, however, were clearly far from anything as unpleasant as the cat she so disliked as she smiled and gestured toward the living room.

"Please go on in and help yourselves to whatever you like. Dan Morgan's simply outdone himself tonight."

More guests were arriving, and Maggie and Dyna moved out of the way and into the crowded living room. A musician sat at a baby grand piano angled into the corner
,
playing a variety of show tunes. Flowers sprouted from nearly every nook and cranny of the room, and the delicious aroma of unidentifiable delicacies floated through the air. Maggie looked at Dyna, whose expression had relaxed considerably.

"Looks like we'll get our money's worth," Maggie said.

"Just might. Are you hungry yet? I can wait a bit. I see a bar set up near the sun room. Want to start there?"

Several people greeted them as they wound their way through the crowd. Maggie saw Susan Larson and her mayor husband over near the baby grand, and waved as Susan looked over with a smile. Annette stood with several others at a food table in the dining room, filling a plate. She wore a puffy red dress which unfortunately accentuated her round shape and brought back the apple-related thoughts Maggie had had at first sight of her the morning after the town meeting. It seemed Annette was determined to keep that image in Maggie's mind.

Dyna asked the bartender for a white wine. Maggie was tempted to do the same, but thought she'd better keep her head clear tonight and instead asked for a ginger ale. "Put it in a stem glass, though, would you?" she asked, hoping it would look as though she were sipping champagne. The bartender nodded as though he got that request of
ten, and who knew, maybe he did?
Possibly more the other way a
round, though, as in, "Put a couple
shots of vodka in a juice glass, with a little cranberry juice for color."

Alexander didn't seem concerned about concealing his choice, though. As Maggie reached for her ginger ale, Alexander came up beside her and ordered "a double scotch on the rocks, but hold the rocks." He turned to Maggie with a grin, and she managed a polite smile. Karen, she noticed, was across the room with her back turned, and their son Ethan, thankfully, must be safely at home tonight.

Dyna had wandered over to talk to Annette, and Maggie walked over to join her.

"These appetizers are out of this world!" Annette declared, polishing off the rest of one in her hand and reaching for another.

Dan Morgan stood at the end of the table, dressed in a dark suit and looking more dinner guest than caterer. His work must be done, Maggie thought, although his gaze roamed the tabl
e, checking
the display of ham, chicken, and roast beef, as well as elaborate vegetable platters and hors d'oeuvres. He bowed his head in acceptance of Annette's praise.

"Wherever do you come up with these ideas?" she asked him. "I would love the recipe"

A nearby woman looked up eagerly at the word 'recipe' and moved closer. Dan looked decidedly uncomfortable and at a loss for words when Leslie suddenly appeared and came to his rescue.

"Dan doesn't need recipes. He's a magician! That's all there is to it. An absolute magician. Isn't this table fabulous?" She took Dan's arm and pulled it through her own. Maggie saw him smile, and realized it must be the first time she saw him do so. Leslie led him away from the table. "But now it's time for him to relax and have some fun. No more shop talk for you!" she said, shaking a finger at him. Annette and the other woman watched
him go, disappointed, but soon
turned back to the table for consolation.

Leslie and Dan blended into the crowd, and looking after them, Maggie caught sight of Paul Dekens standing with Karin.